David Cullinane (Sinn Fein)

I join with Senator Conway in calling for a debate on public sector reform. The Government intends to reduce public sector numbers to 282,500 by the end of 2015, which means that 37,500 people will have left the system since 2008. Under the current scheme, 7,764 workers have applied. Of these, 3,500 come from the health sector, some 3,000 of whom are employed by the HSE, 2,000 come from the education sector, including 1,500 teachers, 1,000 are civil servants from many Departments, 730 are local authority workers, 293 are gardaí and 241 are from the Defence Forces. According to Senator Conway, the 7,764 account for three out of every 100 or so public sector workers and the rest of the staff can be flexible enough to take up the slack, but this flies in the face of what many public servants are facing.

Yesterday, the House debated problems and delays with medical cards. Any Senator who has contacted social welfare or community welfare offices knows how stretched they are. I am in favour of public sector reform, but I would rather see pay being cut and capped at the top than I would a dilution of public services. Number reductions will mean reduced services for people across the key Departments of Health, Education and Skills, Justice and Equality and the Environment, Community and Local Government.

The Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform should discuss his plans with the House, as I would like to hear more about the rapid response team and how it will play out. I would also like to hear from the Minister for Health about how having 3,500 fewer workers in his sector will impact on health services. I would like to hear from the Minister for Education and Skills about how the loss of teachers will impact on young children.